Herold and Surratt

[John Fazio]

(11-07-2013 12:54 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I believe that John Surratt left the "employ" of Booth after the aborted kidnapping on March 17 (which I know you don't believe ever existed). I believe that from that point on, Surratt was under the direction of Judah Benjamin and Gen. Edwin Lee in carrying messages - and maybe materials - between Richmond and Montreal that would assist in secreting Confederate assets and/or continuing warfare along the Northwest border with Canada. I do not believe that Surratt was in D.C. at the time of the assassination - having remained north after his escort duties with Sarah.

I know you think I'm following the company line, but I truly believe what past great researchers have published. Sorry - I'm one old dog that is not going to learn new tricks unless swatted over the head with a rolled up newspaper filled with primary source materials...

Laurie:

No, I DO believe the Campbell Hospital episode happened, but I DO NOT believe that Booth's real purpose was to kidnap Lincoln, nor did Arnold and nor does Kauffman. The former said that the episode was so demented and foolhardy that "we (note the "we"--he wasn't alone in the view) concluded that it was done to try the nerve of his (Booth's) associates", and the latter said that: "This incident has gone down in history as a failed attempt to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. To Booth, however, it was anything but a failure. ...In all likelihood, he staged the event to make it work for him. He really had no reason to think that Lincoln was planning to go to Campbell Hospital."

Surratt may have been under the direction of Benjamin and Lee after 3-17, but that fact, if a fact, does not exclude him from Booth's conspiracy. He may still have gone to N.Y before 3-25, meeting with the "crowd" who Atzerodt said threatened "to get him (Lincoln) quick" and "get the Presdt. certain". He was still summoned there by Roderick Watson. He still went to N.Y. on 4-5 and tried to see Booth. When McMillan asked him what he did in response to Booth's telegram advising him that their plans had changed and that he was to return to Washington forthwith, he answered: "I left for Washington immediately". Furthermore, Benjamin's and Lee's direction must surely have had something to do with Booth's conspiracy, inasmuch as the Confederate Government knew all about the conspiracy, the evidence for which is overwhelming. With the Confederacy crumbling and a full-blown plot to decapitate (up to 15, per Confederate agent "Johnston") in motion, is it believable that one of the Confederacy's top agents (Surratt) was soaking up scenery in New York state and blithely patronizing haberdashers ?

John